Traveling over ground and imagination

Muddy Trails 5K 2012

This was Mike and my fourth time to participate in the Muddy Trails Bash (2010, 2009, 2008). The high was only supposed to be 82 degrees but it was 85-86 degrees. HOT by all accounts. Since the race has gotten quite big, they had everyone park at a church where we were supposed to be shuttled to the race site. However, when we got there it was apparent something didn’t work out as they had planned. The line for the shuttle went back quite a while so Mike and I decided to just walk to the race site. Off we went…

It was about a mile walk to the site. I’ve always enjoyed this area because it’s full of trees and trails. They had a new sign this year.

I thought I’d have time to cool down a bit before the race but when I got there they were already lining up for the 5K. I ran in to my old running coach, Liz, and talked with her for a bit until I saw they were getting ready to go.

The fact that I was rushed to get in the start line was both good and bad. It was good because it didn’t allow me to have enough time to get too nervous about it however, I also didn’t have time to cool down from the walk.

I didn’t take but one picture during the race because I was having some issues. I started off just fine. The first 1/2 mile was tough to run because it was a bit crowded but I made it through ok. Since we’d had rain this past week, I thought the trails would be somewhat muddy. Unfortunately, they were just extremely dusty. I wasn’t anticipating so much dust. This made my breathing pretty difficult.

My goal was to run the entire 5K. I didn’t make it. I only ran about 2 miles of it and walked the rest. All of the dust made my mouth dry and my breathing hard. It was so hot during the run, but every once in a while I got the chills. I’m pretty sure that having the chills when it’s almost 90 degrees and while running is not normal! During the course of the run I had 6 people stop and ask me if I was ok. I told them I was allergic to dust (which I am) rather than explain the real problem. They were all very kind and one lady even offered me a puff of her inhaler if I needed it!

Since the last time I’d been on the trails they added some elevated cabins and a cool looking rope tower.

Once I made it out of the woods there was about 1/2 a mile left on the road. I ran most of this. When I got to the finish line they announced my name as I crossed which was different from what I was use to! Plus, they handed out medals to all participants. Liz was there cheering me on and Mike after I was finished.

My unofficial finish time was 46:27, which is quite a bit less than my original PR of 50:04! I also have to say, the smell of crawfish makes me want to gag when I smell it at the end of the race, but it is the main reason most people show up!

I crammed some ice down my bra and cooled off while I waited for Mike to finish up. His unofficial finish time was around 50 minutes for the 10K.

If we wanted to, we could have stayed around and listened to the band while munching on crawfish.

We decided to walk back to our car instead of hanging around. Neither one of us had eaten much and we were both ready to go get some dinner. As we were leaving they started the 5K-9 race. I think Ruby would have done well on that race!

And…since we had some time, I decided to pose for one last picture!

While I was not happy with my performance, I was happy with the fact that Mike and I participated. I’m not sure if I’ll do this race again until I have my tracheal stenosis cured (thanks to the dust and breathing issues). Mike seems to enjoy it though so we’ll re-evaluate again next year.

***Update***

My official time was 45:32 with a pace of 14:41/M (494 out of 555). Mike’s was 51:47 with a pace of 8:21/M (10K).